Complications
by vomitousthesaurus
Summary: Qrow's entire life was complications. He had a family, until they found out he didn't want to steal for them anymore. He had a great team, until his sister's divorce broke that. He had a life, until a shadow war took away that. Why not enjoy one of the best complications of his life, even if it wasn't suggested, especially if they could keep it a secret?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own, in any part or whole, any of the characters, weapons, design implements, or other associated works of RWBY. The series and its parts are all owned by Rooster Teeth and were created by Monty Oum. I just wanted to mess with it a bit. This will be the only Disclaimer in the entire story, and most likely the only Author's Note, I hate these things. They break up the story, and are honestly too personal. I will be uploading as is convenient. This is not my best work, I admit. I may or may not read reviews and comments.**

 **For reference later into the story for Tai and Summer's weapons here is a drawing I made during the writing process: go to imgur dot com slash** **a/ 5NdkX Delete Spaces**

 **I suggest saving it, as you won't immediately need either for visual aid, but may need them later.**

 **Also, while I don't own the characters, or Rooster Teeth, I do own those drawings/weapons designs and** _ **this**_ **story. Please, don't steal either.**

 **Chapter One:**

 **In Which We Learn That Secrets** _ **Do**_ **Keep… For a While**

There were a lot of things Qrow was ashamed of. He was ashamed of the fact that sometimes he allowed his selfishness to put others in danger, let the very human desire for companionship to jeopardize missions, friends, and family. Raven had once blamed him for a freak "Tree Attack" on the tribe's compound during a visit "home". The damned thing had crushed half of the tents, freed two hostages, and nearly killed the man who was leading the tribe at the time.

He regretted that he had once gotten too close to Tai in a fight against a Nevermore their second year at Beacon and caused the young man to fall and be impaled on a protruding bit of rock. Tai still bore gnarled a scar on his abdomen from the incident. Qrow had felt the tactical error deeply, and had since always remembered to do his best to physically distance himself from his allies in battle.

Yes. Qrow had a lot of regrets. However, his involvement with Summer was not one of them. She was so positive, so full of energy and life, that it made him forget that he was royally messed up. She made light of his semblance, his bad humor, and the fact that he could not seem to "keep it in his pants". He could remember one instance when they had fallen into bed together, not the first or last time, and not only had the bed broken, but the floor under had buckled and they were discovered by Raven.

Summer, personally private and shy, had taken off so quickly that Raven couldn't have actually seen her. That didn't change the fact that through this action alone, Raven knew definitively who had been with her brother. She tried to catch Summer off guard with a comment about it, but Summer had just laughed and said "Nah. I just didn't want _both_ of the Branwen twins to have seen me without my armor on."

If it hadn't been for the fact that he'd been ahead of her when he glanced back, he wouldn't have noticed the blush she was hiding behind her hood. Tai had just coughed, said " _Anyway…_ " and kept walking.

Summer never expected anything of him that he could not give. Like a defined, exclusive "relationship". Like public affection, not that her bubbly but shy self would have wanted much of that anyway. Summer was a great strategist, a fearsome warrior, happy, optimistic, and occasionally loud. That did not change the fact that she was reserved. Qrow still had no idea what they were to each other, and they had been "indulging" in each other, as he liked to think of it, since their second year at Beacon.

It came as a surprise when, after they left Beacon, he started not having so much trouble keeping his pants on. It was frightening to him when he'd start thinking of her, rather than the task at hand.

He sat down, once, to think about what exactly had attracted them to each other to begin with. Summer was small, tiny, even. But she was sturdy, strong arms and legs. She wore light armor, almost always wore black under her cloak, and he had thought her hair was dyed for the first three years he had known her. She was one of the few women he knew to use a heavy weapon, two, if you counted the axe and the rifle as two separate weapons. She was strong, and he never was afraid he'd hurt her by accident.

She also knew when to tell him no, whether it was to chasing an opponent, taking another drink, or anything else. She knew him better than almost anyone else, except his sister.

He left on a mission once for a year without warning, and when they ran into each other a few times along the way, she never mentioned it. It was just part of the job they both chose to her, another bit of understanding she gave him that many others, Hunters and Huntresses included, could not seem to give to their significant others.

They'd fall into conversation, or bed, or both. Discretely, because, well, she knew Qrow wasn't the kind of Hunter who tracked only Grimm. It was nice to be able to sleep in an Inn without the risk of having to be obvious when his quarry may be near.

Coming back at the end of that year, Raven was pregnant and scared, and Tai was ecstatic. They had apparently eloped right before Qrow had left. They had not run into him before Raven became pregnant, and so had not been able to tell him.

He had flashed his(admittedly unreliable) flip-scroll at them and said "See that? That's called the call button!"

Later that same night, Oz and Summer had pulled him aside. Raven was already in the know, but Tai was still blissfully ignorant that Summer had taken on the title of one of the maidens.

It wasn't considered imperative that he know which maiden. However, later, while he was bumming food from Summer at her place, he mentioned that she had never seemed very close to the previous Fall maiden, a very young girl from Mistral that had been untrained when discovered just a couple of years before. Qrow had been in charge of retrieving her.

"Amber is fine, Qrow," Summer had said. "Though I have been helping her with hand to hand every once in a while."

Qrow wondered who else Summer may have been in contact with. Maidens did not become elderly, even if they lived long lives, and while Oz endeavored to keep track of them all, he knew that the summer and spring maidens were elusive. Honestly, he hadn't been paying too much attention to conversations concerning the maidens. Now that Summer was one, he regretted it.

"Then?" he asked.

"I'm not Fall, Qrow," she had sighed. "I didn't want this. Between this and the eyes… I don't know what else Ozpin is going to ask of me."

It seemed a lackluster statement for someone already stretched so thin. Their entire team had been dragged into Ozpin's secret war before they left school. Some of the other Academy Headmasters had expressed concern over their involvement. Oz used Summer frequently, with her ability to stop groups of lesser Grimm or an exceptionally large Grimm in its tracks. She was useful, staving off Grimm attacks and preventing Salem from having the distractions she needed to progress her vendetta against Ozpin.

Glynda and Summer made for a unique team. Glynda was able to use her telekinesis to redirect the Grimm and clear a path for residents, and if the Grimm didn't move, they died. Summer was ruthless on the battlefield, stopping Grimm and ripping them apart faster than any other Hunter or Huntress could. Qrow had heard rumors that she could even destroy certain Grimm from the get-go, no weapons necessary, just eye-contact. He'd also been on her team all of his adult life, and had never once witnessed this, so he was rather certain it was an exaggeration. Tai may have been the heaviest hitter on their team, Raven the most graceful, and Qrow may have been the most observant, but Summer was the most deadly. It would not surprise him to learn that they had simply seen her ruthlessness and confused it for invincibility.

Once Summer had destroyed the Grimm, Glynda would proceed with cleaning up, and it was like the battle never happened, returning the status-quo so quickly and limiting the negative emotions from the residents to the point where there was diminished return of Grimm activity afterward.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Summer continuing.

"I didn't want this, but it chose me, and now I have to figure it out. The world can't end just because the things ahead look impossible."

Qrow chuckled. "So what is the plan?" he asked. Summer always had a plan. Summer made plans to make plans. She could know someone for a week, and already have observed them well enough to be able to make strategies of their abilities blended with hers to maximize effect. He admired it, though he worked best alone, personally. Harder to put your allies in jeopardy with your semblance if you didn't have any allies nearby.

"I need to get this under control, first of all," she told him. Her mouth smiled, her eyes were sad.

"Under control?" he asked.

"I may have caused… a bit of elemental damage when I first displayed the abilities," Summer mumbled. She was looking anywhere but at him, embarrassed.

"Displayed? How does it even work?" he asked.

"It goes to whomever the last maiden is last thinking of," Summer told him quietly, "unless they're elderly or male. There are certain people who are also ineligible. It sounds strange, but the magic has to _trust_ them. Not to listen to Ozpin or anything silly like that, the magic does not care about politics. It has to trust the person to defend what they believe in, to protect who they cherish. That sort of thing. I think. I don't fully understand it. Oz created it, and even _he_ doesn't fully understand it."

It grew silent for a while, Summer and he sitting on opposite sides of her little round table, drinking, and just existing.

"So you were in the last maiden's thoughts?" Qrow asked.

Summer shrugged. "I don't know…"

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't even know who she _was_." Summer seemed troubled by this. "Ozpin says it may have happened randomly, or that she knew us, but we didn't know her. Silver-eyed women are more likely to inherit the power, when the previous maiden's last thought wasn't an option."

A thought struck Qrow. "Wait, so how long have you _been_ a maiden?"

"Nobody really knows," she said. "The silver eyes give me certain… affinities, like when it comes to Grimm. I freeze them in their tracks for a few moments, or at least slow them down. It's not a semblance. It's not Ozpin's magic. It's just a thing. That I can do. It's a...fear-thing, an intimidation tactic that was bred into women like me. I don't know my mother's family, Qrow, so I don't know if they were all like this. Dad's dead, so I can't ask him if my mother had silver eyes, and I never wanted to pry and ask her name. Ozpin says that the silver eyes also make it more likely to become a maiden. He says that in the past, a girl who had silver-eyes petrified a maiden who was abusing her abilities. Turned her to stone, and absorbed her maiden ability."

"You can absorb a maiden's ability?" Qrow asked.

" _I_ can't," Summer told him. "I'm already a maiden. To absorb two maidens' abilities would be dangerous. I think Ozpin is over-dramatizing and that the girl just happened to be the last person in the maiden's thoughts because they were actively in battle. Besides that, I have never felt like I can turn someone to stone. The most I've ever done is get so scared I passed out and all the Grimm and 'evil-doers'" Summer used air-quotes at this phrase, "stopped, like they were frozen in time. Mostly, if I put effort into it, if I concentrate on keeping an eye on them, they slow down or hesitate. Maybe the girl just turned to stone after she lost her maiden powers. To absorb someone's maiden abilities, you would have to absorb their aura, and that's just… sick."

Qrow shuddered. "If someone wanted to take my semblance, though, I'd give it to them," he muttered grumpily. "I was helping Glynda out with a training exercise just before I left for this last gig and some kid slipped in his teammate's ice and stabbed himself on his own weapon because they were teamed with me."

"Qrow…" Summer warned. "Your semblance is useful. Your opponents lose their footing, they lose their weapons, they get caught. Don't wish it away, it's a part of you."

Qrow chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah. I guess you're right," he said, "it's just a part of me to be the world's worst lucky charm."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

 **In Which Summer Learns There is a Limit to Even** _ **Her**_ **Patience**

He, Tai, and Summer watched as Raven began to dread her impending birth and motherhood more and more. They wanted to meet the brat already, start spoiling it. Summer constantly reminded Tai and he that this _had_ progressed fast for Raven, perhaps too fast, and that understanding was the best thing they could do for their little "family". Needless to say, 6 months after the birth of Yang, it was Summer who Raven confided in a few short hours before she abandoned the baby at home with Tai and disappeared. It was Summer who she asked to help Tai. Summer, who had already taught Raven how to change a diaper, burp a baby, and all the other things Raven was too embarrassed and proud to ask Tai about. Though, honestly, Qrow wondered how _Summer_ knew those things, either.

He also firmly maintained to himself that he did _not_ feel jealous of the fact that Raven had come to rely on Summer for help rather than him.

Tai was distraught. He kept himself positive, working hard to care for Yang, but he lost weight and stopped taking jobs on. Summer helped to take care of Yang in this time, passing on missions, and pushing back against the pressure Ozpin was putting on her to get moving. It was Summer who reminded Taiyang to sleep, eat, shower, get in some training before he got flabby.

Ozpin was not happy.

"My team needs me," Qrow overheard her yelling at Ozpin on a day he came back early from an assignment.

"Your _team_ is no longer a team. You all are adults. We need you here. The _world_ needs you," Ozpin's voice was not loud, but it was firm. Qrow could imagine the frown and drawn brow in his head.

"I cannot help them until I help myself, Ozpin. What use will I be if the entire time I'm fighting, I'm thinking of the fact that I left a seven month old baby, the daughter of two of the people who matter most to me, in the care of a man who can't even take care of himself right now?"

He heard the sound of something slamming on to the table, and moved aside just as Summer swept through the door, tears and literal fire in her eyes.

He pushed through the door regardless to deliver his latest intel report to Ozpin. This particular mission had been short. Only a week of travelling each way, not too much Grimm activity. The subjects of the expedition had been loose-lipped to boot. All Qrow had to do was send them a bottle of decent whiskey from an "anonymous admirer" and pay the barkeep to tell them it was a pretty bird down the bar without specifying _which_ pretty bird down the bar.

After the debriefing, Qrow was debating taking on a mission for Vale, going out into the area near Mountain Glenn and clearing out the still present but walled off subway tunnels with Glynda. She needed to check and make sure her repairs were still holding.

He went to stop by and check on Tai and Yang before deciding. What he found broke his heart. There was Summer, making Taiyang eat, while feeding Yang a bottle and rocking her, nearly asleep with exhaustion. Qrow walked in and took Yang from Summer. "Hey, kiddo," he told the baby. He put the bottle in her mouth and she looked at him like he was crazy, violet eyes slightly narrowed, lips pursed but not yet suckling the bottle.

"Come on, kid, you're making me look bad. This is my first time, ya know," Qrow told her. Yang's face scrunched up, but she took the bottle. Qrow began to rock, but had no idea what he was doing. He was fairly certain he looked like he was doing some form of the potty dance.

Summer sighed, slumped over a bit with a smile on her face. "Thank you," she whispered. "Tai has really lost it this week…" She brightened up again almost immediately. "You look good with a kid," she told him, laughing.

Qrow grimaced. "Yeah, for short periods of time. I'd be a real piece of work as a father."

Summer laughed.

"Well, I mean, at this point, you guys aren't even _together_ or her parents, and you're doing better than me," Tai groused.

Summer turned so quickly Qrow swore he could hear the pleats of her skirt slap each other.

"Get. Up." She said.

Tai looked genuinely confused.

"Get up!" she repeated. "That's enough. You're trying, but you aren't trying hard enough, Taiyang! You are her dad. You can't just give up because Raven wasn't ready. We're here. We're going to help you. But you have to get yourself together. You have to eat, you have to take jobs, you have to raise her to know that there was nothing _wrong_ with either of you. Raven was scared. She ran. That's it."

Tai glared at her.

"You're one of the strongest people I know, and that's saying a lot, considering our profession. Not to mention, you are a _great_ dad, but you can't be a great dad if you let yourself go."

Qrow left the room at that point, uncomfortable with the shouting match that was bound to start. _Besides,_ he thought, _isn't it bad for kids to see that kind of stuff? Yeah, that's why we're leaving._

Eventually, Summer won. Tai got up, took showers, got back to his old training routine, ate, and stopped wallowing in abandonment self-pity after that. Qrow watched as Summer and Tai all but moved in together, taking turns on missions so Yang was never alone. Qrow helped out as much as he could, but after he was alone with Yang for too long, she toddled by the bookshelf where Summer insisted they put their weapons, out of "kid-reach", and his scythe had fallen on her even though it was in a closed shelf. They put a time limit of 3 days of Uncle Qrow after that.

Tai and Summer worked out a flexible but sturdy schedule about 2 weeks in. She finally got to start sleeping back in her own home, and Qrow was able to get her tactical advice without having Tai listening or Yang in his lap. It was also nice to be able to sleep over again and eat something not from a bar.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

 **In Which we Learn That Inability to be a Caretaker Does** _ **Not**_ **Mean An Inability to Care**

Qrow avoided talking to Tai about Raven. Summer did the same, telling him it would only lead him back to wallowing. "Raven wanted to leave, and we have to let her," she would say.

Qrow felt bad, and Tai was a little angry at both of them, something that caused a conflict between the three of them. There was also the fact that he was routinely updating Raven on Tai and Yang's progress, health, and wellbeing. He was fairly certain Summer was doing the same. Summer and Raven were closer than Ozpin gave them credit for. Summer's understanding, loving nature also made her very forgiving.

"She left," he found himself telling Summer one night, watching Grimm from an abandoned building. He was taking a team of older Beacon students on a population control assignment nearby Vale, Glynda, and by extension Ozpin, having too many teams and not enough staff. "She abandoned everyone, because she's afraid of what we are up against."

Summer had been sent to a nearby settlement to clear the Grimm and direct them away. Qrow was sent because there was a pretty huge crime group headquartered just outside the town, hence the Grimm concentration.

Summer had turned away from him with a frustrated grunt, her hair and her hood obscuring his view of her expression.

"It is human nature to fear," she reminded him.

"You aren't afraid," he told her.

"I am afraid. I am afraid I will die, I am afraid we all will. I'm afraid of failure, and of Salem. I keep going, because I believe that together, we can do this. The more people we have, the more likely it is we can do the impossible."

"Yes, but you are here and she is running."

Summer was quiet for a while. "I lost it a few weeks ago…" she said.

"Lost what?" Qrow asked.

"My resolve," Summer told him. "I was getting ready to run. Let Ozpin fight his war. I'll take out Grimm and criminals, but I don't want anything to do with a magic war."

Qrow shrugged. "You're still here, though."

"Because I can't abandon you, Tai, and Yang to this alone," Summer told him.

Qrow had shrugged. "She still ran."

"Did she, though? Survival has always been Raven's strong suit."

The conversation stayed on his mind for a good long while.

The next morning, Qrow joined Summer in clearing out the Grimm population. Most of them were minor Grimm, Beowulves, a couple of Ursa, a Nevermore. Nothing that was worthy of fully extending his scythe. He just left it as a sword. Even the shotgun was able to take out quite a few of the Grimm, and he had only added that to give himself some breathing room.

After most of the Grimm were gone, a huge, winged Grimm came out from the mountains. It had a long neck, covered in segmented bone-like armor, all the vertebrae of his spine half sticking out of its hide and leading to both a spiked tail and a horned, armored skull.

It brought with it a group of Ursa and a couple of Nevermores. The clicking of the scythe in his hand was satisfying, watching as the segments of the sword blade moved and lined up perfectly to form a curved blade always gave him a sense of accomplishment.

Behind him he could hear Summer's rifle popping, could see a wing of one of the Nevermore's shuddering under the force of the impact. Unsatisfied with the progress she was making on the wing, he could hear her jump off the tree branch she was lying against, her feet, previously propped against the trunk to absorb recoil, striking the ground a foot or two behind him.

The sound of the bayonet transitioning to an axe was exhilarating. How many times had he heard these sounds in preparation for battle? All that was missing was the sound of Tai's crossbow being knocked, of the bolts being organized for the best effect, of Tai and Raven loading dust into cartridges strategically placed in his vambraces and her katana.

He felt a brief pang of anger that they were not here, that their little family had been broken by Raven. He could hear in the back of his mind Summer scolding him that Raven hadn't broken their little family. Just made a bit of drama.

Then the Grimm were upon them, and he couldn't think of it anymore. He took out two Ursa. He could hear Summer vocalizing, slicing through one of the Ursa she encountered. Then they were surrounded by dead Ursa and Nevermore feathers were embedded in the ground around them.

"Qrow! I'm going to need a boost!" she yelled at him. He got himself out of the mess and into a tree, compacting his scythe and putting it on his belt. He bent his knees and cupped his hands, catching her foot with the ease of years of practice, and throwing her as hard as he could with his legs and arms together into the sky. He barely got out of the way of the first blast of dust she sent out from the barrel of her rifle on the way up for propulsion. He watched as she landed on the first Nevermore and proceeded to slice it in half.

She was hopping over to the second nevermore when Qrow realized he should not have allowed himself to get distracted. The massive Grimm roared, and he pulled out his scythe in preparation for attacking it. He was half up the thing's back when Summer came falling out of the sky, aimed just above the spine from where he was. His semblance had been half-tame this particular battle, so he already had his scythe ready when the vertebrae she landed on broke under her boots and she began to fall. She landed on the flat and started up the neck. Qrow struggled to unstick the scythe for just a moment, then he was after her.

Qrow was slashing at the back of its neck, logic telling him that things can't live without brains, when a clawed paw caught him and tossed him. He could hear Summer calling his name, but lost consciousness for a few moments on contact with the ground. When he came to, Summer was glowing, and the Grimm was encased in ice. Her axe was swung down into the thing's neck, the blade enhanced with some kind of glowing red magic. The Grimm shattered and turned to dust, and Summer landed gracefully in the crater it had made upon landing.

It was the first time Qrow was truly afraid of Summer rather than afraid for her.

When they limped back to the edge of the town, Summer getting a room at the inn, Qrow couldn't hold it anymore. "You really are a maiden," he huffed. It was difficult to walk so far while injured.

"Yes…?" Summer told him. "Did you think I made it up for fun? That I thought, 'you know what'd be really cool? To be one of the biggest targets of the scariest, craziest person to exist!' and just went with it?"

Qrow scoffed. "Well, no. I thought you might be protecting someone."

"From you? You're one of Ozpin's most loyal. He doesn't protect anyone from you except yourself, Qrow."

The thought that he had to be protected from himself made Qrow bristle quite a bit, but he tamped it down. "It was just so hard to believe it would be you."

"Yeah." Summer's voice was quiet. They spent the rest of the night on a discussion of how things would be different if they were normal in between other activities. What if he wasn't emotionally messed up and they weren't in the middle of a war bigger than either of them? What if, someday, they won, and everything was sunshine and rainbows? It was a big deal for Qrow, who attempted to stay as much in the present and reality as possible.

What if's were depressing. He drowned the depression in the remainder of his flask and in the gentle comfort Summer provided, and when they were both drunk, when she rolled over and sighed "I love you," he felt the difference in the phrase. He knew that something had changed in a way he really should not allow. He responded "I love you, too" anyway.

The next day, she went back to Vale to report the destruction of the Grimm and Qrow focused on the intel he needed to shut down the mob in the town to keep the Grimm from coming back.

After, he and Summer became even more involved. It was becoming a tangled, but enjoyable, mess. They still hadn't decided what they were to each other.

Upon his return to a more normal rotation after Tai and Yang got settled down, he noticed that Raven was obsessive about knowing how Yang was. Qrow caught the black bird perched on the nursery window more than once, watching as Summer rocked the infant or Tai sang her lullabies and danced with her. He thought it was only a matter of time before Raven returned. It had been 6 months. Yang was beginning to crawl, sleep more than 3 hours at a time, play.

Qrow physically caught his sister one day, pulling her aside. "Hey!" she had yelled at him.

"What are you doing here, Raven?" he asked her.

"I just needed to see them."

Qrow stared at her for a bit. "Apparently not enough to stay."

"Qrow, please, you know I'm not fit to be a mother."

"So you leave Summer to do it?" he asked.

"Yes! I want my daughter to have the best mother possible, and that is not me!" Raven was wide-eyed with anger, even as tears streamed down her cheeks.

After that, she didn't ask him for updates on Yang or Taiyang, but when he returned from his next assignment, he knew she had tried to talk to Tai recently. It had not gone well. Tai rarely, if ever, used his weapon anymore. He didn't like keeping them around Yang after the incident with Qrow's scythe. Somehow, he thought that maybe Qrow's semblance was hereditary and insisted with such conviction that Qrow himself started worrying about it until he realized his semblance didn't appear until much later in life, Yang didn't have any activated semblance at less than a year old, that was crazy.

Qrow had returned to Tai repairing holes blasted in the wall from dust, slashed curtains, linens, and a singed table cloth. The couch had been a total loss, a pincushion for Tai's crossbow bolts and singed by dust, most likely from both Tai's vambrace and Raven's katana. Knowing his sister, Qrow would bet money on Raven having used the couch as a barrier against Tai. Why she started a fight indoors, he would never know. Summer told him she had taken Yang home with her that night, getting tired of being so near Tai all the time.

Qrow and Summer had both gotten back from missions recently and bought Tai a new couch without being asked because he never thought quite clearly whenever Raven was involved.

"We spend half our time home here anyway," Summer had told him with a shrug as they watched the movers pick it up and carry it inside the house.

"I still didn't think it'd be so _expensive_ ," Qrow groused.

"It _does_ have to fit all four of us, even as Yang grows," Summer had reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

 **In Which We Learn That Subtlety is Definitely** _ **Not**_ **A Branwen Trait**

It took awhile for Tai to calm down. When he finally did, he announced quite calmly that he was going to be joining the staff at Signal the coming year. They would be helping him with childcare whenever Qrow or Summer were not available.

Summer asked if it was going to be the students watching Yang, a look of mixed fear and disbelief on her face.

Summer and Qrow returned to their earlier schedule. Not that their involvement with each other had ended. They had simply had to be more discreet. The frequency of their meetings had decreased. They took on a few team missions. Together, they took a class from Beacon out on one of their first dangerous missions. Their current workload was full of short-lived missions.

Then Ozpin was pulling Summer aside more and more frequently. He wondered if she had been given further duties on top of those all of team STRQ had already taken on(would that be team SQ, now? How do you make a word with two consonants? Not that that consonants had stopped them from making STRQ). Was it not enough that they were battling an evil even greater than the Grimm? That Ozpin had "gifted" Raven and himself with the ability to be his most reliable and undetectable spies?

After, they separated for a month. Qrow was sent on an intel mission involving Raven and the tribe. Somehow, she had taken it over already. She had been outwardly hostile, but as soon as they were away from prying eyes, she had smiled and offered him a full bottle of whiskey. He drank, and she told him about the things she had noticed in her travels. Her notes on Grimm activity would be added to Oobleck's study to track concentration. Oobleck was extremely young. Qrow was fairly certain he had not even graduated Beacon yet. His intelligence was unmatched, however, and Oz seemed quite ready to fund Oobleck through a doctoral degree, if only to invest in him as an effective tool against Salem.

"How is Yang?" she eventually asked. Her eyes were firmly planted on the floor.

"I don't know if I should even tell you," he answered honestly.

She got angry almost immediately, but stomped it down. He watched her expression closely.

"What happened, Raven?"

"I do not know how you all are so blindly loyal to Ozpin…" she began. "I asked Tai to come with me. Get out of the kingdoms. Away from his manipulation."

Qrow finished the drink in his glass, third one already. He shook his head.

"It's pretty simple, Raven, we're choosing the guy who wants to see people continue existing and surviving over the whack-job who wants to kill us all and flood the land with Grimm."

He sighed. She tensed. _This may very well end with bloodshed,_ he thought. He used the chairback to shift his weapon along his belt and toward his right hand. A sword was always necessary when negotiating with bandits, he recalled from childhood.

"That's almost exactly what Tai said." She seemed to deflate after this. Qrow had spent legitimately his entire life reading his twin, so he waited. "Then I told him I was going to take Yang to keep her safe if he was going to play into that maniac's plans."

 _Ah. So that's how the fight started._ "Raven…" he began, "you left. All he has is her, and he has lost faith in you. Something he never thought he would, because, in his own words, once you fight for something, you never give up. And who were you going to have help you care for her? See if Summer will move in with you?"

Raven shrank even further. "Tai says he won't let me near her again."

Qrow stared at her. "You are leading a bandit tribe, Raven. How many of their kids live healthy, happy lives? How is being a bandit, running around the world, a criminal, something you want for your daughter?"

" _We_ were raised here!" she shouted.

"Because we were useful! I was thin and quiet enough to sneak into homes and steal the weapons before a raid, and you could transport them in and out with your semblance. Could bring the entire tribe to me as soon as I got into the leaders' homes, or to the center of the towns. As for _happy,_ have you looked at us?"

"We went to Beacon to learn how to be better for the tribe! We were supposed to return from the very beginning." Raven was angry.

"There is more to the world than the tribe. We learned more than we thought we would."

"The tribe is my only family. It is my duty to protect them, both from Salem and Oz. If you are not with us, you're against us, and that goes for Tai, too," Raven was shaking, but she stood her ground.

"Does that go for Yang?" Qrow asked quietly.

Raven's eyes widened. Her shoulders slumped minutely. "That is _her_ choice. When she comes of age, if she chooses to follow you and her father, then I will have no mercy for her, either."

Tears were streaming from her eyes. Qrow waited.

"I will let Oz know you aren't interested in selling him your observations any more," he said after a while.

"Don't be ridiculous," Raven muttered. "The tribe still needs his protection. You can let him know I am no longer loyal to his insanity. That is all."

She sat down after a longer while. "Just… don't tell Taiyang," she whispered. "Please."

At that moment, Qrow knew he had lost his sister, her fiery spirit, her determination, her resilience, all to her fear of Salem.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

 **In Which we Learn Not All is as it Seems**

Summer and he met up again a few times in the next six to seven months, but they were both very busy running Ozpin's errands and helping Tai with Yang. Honestly, it was Summer who walked Tai through all of the milestones of single-fatherhood, having been raised by one herself. Tai seemed much happier once he was teaching at Signal. Yang began to walk and talk, and Qrow realized that it was best if he left his scythe at home when he visited, as she was becoming increasingly curious about all the gears, levers, and triggers on the thing. _It is insanely cool,_ he thought.

Then Qrow was sent on a two year long mission by Oz, flying all over Remnant, perched on windowsill after windowsill, tree after tree, and even the occasional statue, listening to conversations between political leaders, businessmen, criminals, thugs, and sometimes a combination of all four.

He became adept at sleeping with his face tucked under his wing in the rain. Sometimes it was too risky to sleep in an inn, where the people he was investigating were in the same town. It was rare in Remnant for smaller settlements to have more than one inn, and even when they did, some of the parties he tracked were large. There was legitimately no room at the inn anyway at that point.

He had been switching targets whenever he felt that a new lead was more promising than his current. This job was more flexible than most. During one instance, he was sitting in the rafters of a warehouse, listening to a plan for a dust shipment theft to help some "resistance" when he heard Salem's name come up. Even though he had been searching for the Summer maiden, Salem was noteworthy enough that he could be side tracked. After over a year of searching he finally got his first true lead.

He jumped silently from one rafter to the next, transforming back to himself as he pulled his scroll out to record. Oz always wanted to hear himself, and while a bit of magic ensured that Oz could pull the memories out of Qrow and Raven's heads, Qrow hated it so much that Oz had suggested this instead almost immediately after confessing the ability.

"She has agreed to help us as long as her goal and our actions align," one of the thieves mentioned. "She'll send Grimm to distract the huntsmen and guards while we raid the storage lockers just south of the Schnee mine."

 _Schnee? Am I in Atlas?_

The realization took Qrow by surprise. Traveling as the crow flies, he often forgot that borders existed. Furthermore, his lessened appetite from being so small, and a knowledge that he had eaten worse things as a human child when the bandits of his tribe were feeling less charitable, meant that he could survive off carrion pretty reliably.

Though as soon as he turned human he realized how hungry he was. He grimaced and promised himself to eat real food as soon as it was plausible. He had enough Lien on him that it would not be a problem.

 _Come on. Just say when, or give me some sort of useful detail, here. I'm finally in a city. Can stretch my legs. Maybe find a short skirt to chase,_ he found himself thinking. The thought made him uncomfortable, though. True, Summer had told him that monogamy was unnecessary, especially with how unofficial their arrangement was and how many things they had going on. Still, it had been at least four years since he had last been with anyone else, and that had been because he was drunk and Summer and Tai had both bet him that he couldn't get the bartender into bed.

Come to think about it, that might have been 5 years ago, they had not been long out of school then.

"Your team will be attacking, and if possible ransacking the train. Mine will be taking down the limited security at the storehouses. She's bringing in her own team to try and isolate a young girl here, says she's more important than mere dust. Some businessman's daughter. I'm kind of tempted to get in on the action, wonder if she's worth a lot of Lien or something," the bandit switched topics abruptly, listing off strategies his team would be using and listing step by step the process so that the two independent teams would not interfere in each other's operations.

Qrow, however, had stopped listening. A young girl, important enough to Salem to justify a bigger spectacle than was normal for her.

 _It sounds like I've found the Summer maiden,_ he mused. _Or, rather, that Salem found her for me._

At just that moment, the beam he was crouched on groaned and collapsed. He turned back to a crow and flew away as fast as possible. Gunshots echoed off the roof behind him. He vowed to tell Summer an eavesdropping joke about this when he saw her again. Tai, too. He wondered if Yang was old enough to enjoy such jokes just yet. She was only 3, probably still a toddler, honestly. Qrow didn't know much about kids…

"It's just a bird, you idiot. Don't waste the dust!" one of the bandits was shouting. Having gotten as much information as possible from this particular interaction, he flew out the window and out of the city.

Qrow was able to call Oz later on that night, from the relative security of a room in an inn. "I think I found the Summer maiden," he told Oz.

Oz's voice was gruff with sleep. "We already _know_ where the Summer maiden is," he told Qrow.

"Well, excuse me, I thought that was why I was out here!" Qrow told him. "Look, Salem is moving on a businessman's daughter here, is going to have a bunch of mobsters and Grimm running interference for her."

There was a pause, then "Ah, that must be the Spring maiden."

Qrow was quiet. "Well?" he asked Ozpin.

"Wait there. I will get in contact with James. He will handle the acquisition and the attacks, then deliver whoever the new Spring maiden is to you for evacuation. I do not want you getting involved in Atlesian politics."

"Do I bring her to Beacon?" he asked.

"We don't even know who she is yet, or how old," Oz reminded him. "Amber is currently at Haven… I suppose it would be best to bring her here, for now."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

 **In Which we Learn Complicated Situations Can Always be More So**

Late the next night, James Ironwood, a young man in the Atlas military slated to become Headmaster soon, met Qrow outside the city. At first Qrow thought he was alone, but there was a bundle of blankets asleep in his arms. He carried himself with arrogance, his face determined, jaw set, shoulders high and back straight. Qrow disliked him immediately.

The girl looked to be about six or seven years old. Her youth struck Qrow hard. She was tiny, dressed in a pretty dress and wearing clothing completely unsuited to battle.

"Her father died in the attack," Ironwood let him know. "Her mother died a few years ago. Mom was a Huntress, the only one in her family."

Qrow took the girl back to Beacon, where Ozpin looked at her like he was in shock before passing her along to Glynda to be cared for. Glynda, for what it was worth, treated the girl gently and with care, though as soon as the little one was out of ear shot she made no qualms about telling Ozpin "You know I don't know anything about children!"

Ozpin had chuckled, "You've been raising children into Huntsmen your entire adult life. I'm sure you can do this."

Qrow looked at the kid, Coral, he reminded himself, and all he saw was slumped shoulders, and haunted eyes. "I don't know, Oz, she's pretty fragile, and way too young."

Ozpin had nodded. "I know, but we have to give her a chance."

Qrow had returned to his room at Beacon to find even the beer in the fridge had expired, flopped on his bed, exhausted, and slept until dawn, a rare thing for a Huntsman who was dependent on getting to the job board or the council before anyone else to make money. Figuring that Summer wouldn't be home at this time of day, even on a weekend, he went straight to Tai's place in Patch, the only thought on his mind being that he couldn't wait to see Yang, remind himself that _she_ at least was going to have a relatively safe, normal childhood.

When he walked up the path toward the house, though, he was startled to see two little girls chasing each other in the garden, one with Tai's bright blonde hair color and violet eyes, but Raven's button nose and determined chin, Raven's wild, fast-growing hair, even Raven's expressions, the other with dark black hair and pale skin.

His first thought had been that Raven had finally come to her senses and come home to her husband and her daughter.

His second had been a strangely out-of-place instant flash of betrayal and hurt, because when the toddler, still in diapers, turned with unsure, bouncing steps, Qrow could see from here that she had inherited her mother's silver eyes.

Qrow was flying again before he could blink. He saw Summer staring at him, confused, from the steps. Her cloak was folded next to her, armor left inside, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Even through the realization that he was upset, he thought that domesticity _did_ look good on her.

The last thing he wanted to do was open his mouth and say something he would regret. Summer and he had had an arrangement, they were not married, and while they cared for each other, he had always thought they knew that neither didn't want a commitment. He certainly wouldn't be able to handle commitment. Home life for him had been anything but stable or safe. He didn't know how to take care of anyone but himself. Protect? Yes.

Care took more than just protection.

When he landed at Beacon, he saw Glynda trying to guide Coral through a set of hand-to-hand drills in the courtyard. He smiled at Coral as he passed.

Unfortunately, that distracted her and Glynda had already geared up for the beginning of a block drill. She didn't realize in time and hit the little girl, albeit gently, in the stomach, apologizing profusely.

"I just want to see how much you know. So we can figure out where would be a good fit for you," Glynda told the girl.

"I told you, I don't know anything," Coral responded, tears in her eyes.

Qrow's expression immediately became dark. _Been here five seconds, and bad luck has already struck. There's only two people here, or goodness's sake!_

He stormed up to Ozpin's office. "Got any work for me?" he asked.

Oz looked up over the brim of his glasses with a quirked brow, hands still busy organizing the papers on his desk. "Honestly, no," he said. "After the failed attempt to acquire Coral, nearly all exceptional Grimm and crime activity have died down. I'm sure the board down in Vale will have some open Hunting jobs from the council."

Qrow pulled the flask from his hip and finished it, scowling.

"Is something...troubling you?" Ozpin asked.

"You could have warned me my brother-in-law remarried and had another kid," Qrow told him, slumping into a chair across the desk.

"Tai and Summer are not married," Ozpin told Qrow, "though he did have his marriage dissolved due to spousal abandonment."

Qrow grunted.

"They have been living together for a while," Ozpin conceded. "I've been staying out of their personal lives, however. Summer has taken the last two years off. I don't think either of them expected it."

Qrow couldn't imagine she would do such a thing. Summer had been a devout monster-slayer before she had even started at Beacon. Then he realized that she was also an exceptionally caring person. The kind of person who would give up what she thought she wanted to take care of something she loved.

"She stopped as soon as she knew she was pregnant?" he asked Ozpin.

Ozpin hummed an affirmative, sifting through paperwork on his desk. The silence stretched for a few moments. Ozpin sighed. "There is need for a combat instructor at Signal," he told Qrow. "I am going to need you nearby for the next few years, as we see how things settle. I can put you forward as a recommendation, you do well with Glynda and Port"

Qrow grunted. "Fine, I'll even stay sober while classes are in session, but don't blame me if the kids are even clumsier than usual around me."

Ozpin laughed. "That's actually better. If they have to learn to choose surer footing and be more cautious, they'll be more prepared than the last few batches we have gotten as first years. I had someone ask me when we would be assigning weapons during admissions last week."

Qrow pulled a face. Tai had come from Signal with a family weapon and made his vambraces later with Raven's help. Summer had ordered hers to be made as a reward from her father upon her admission, just a sniper then, no bayonet, no axe. Both were additions she made later, when she saw Qrow's sword sprout a shotgun, a telescoping handle, and a curved blade. Raven and Qrow had been forced to make their own by the tribe, a tradition he was going to see if he could start at Signal. They had been the ones to help Summer and Tai make their weapons more customized to their fighting style, after all. Family weapons were fine, but every person had their own fighting style. A weapon should be made for the fighting style and the style for the person, not the other way around.

"I'll start moving my things over to Signal, then," he told Ozpin.

"What things?" Ozpin asked him.

Qrow was already on his way out the door when he shouted "I do have clothes, you know!" over his shoulder.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

 **In Which Qrow Learns he Can't Put Two and Two Together**

It was that night, as he was talking to the headmaster at Signal, looking over the lesson plans left by his predecessor and making amendments where he saw fit, that it began to hit him. Ozpin had said two years. He finished up with the headmaster, glad to have gotten approval to hire a blacksmith team and start a weapon-forging portion of coursework.

He went upstairs and unpacked his bag. All his clothes into the closet, his pictures on the desk, one of his team, one of Yang and Tai, one of Raven, and one of Summer.

He flopped back into the bed. _Summer and Tai?_ He asked himself. It was certainly plausible. They were both hardworking, optimistic people. They made the best two person team out of all of Team STRQ, had even won the 2 member portion of the Vytal festival, with Summer going on to win the single person match-up.

He was sure that together, they could make family life and Hunting life work.

 _But 2 years means she was already seeing him the last time she was with me_ , he thought. _Which is odd, because Summer has never been one to keep secrets. Be private, yes, but not keep a secret._

His eyes widened. He sat straight up in the bed. _2 years ago, she was last with_ me.

He broke out in a nervous sweat and was suddenly nauseous, rushing into the adjoining bathroom to puke up the liquor and street food he had ingested early this afternoon, after his initial interview with the headmaster here.

 _Oh, hell,_ he thought. His window was open. He took off through it toward Tai's house without thinking.

When he got to the window of the nursery, he saw Raven was there. He nearly ran into her, flapping to slow down just in time and cawing at her, knowing she hated the sound. She jumped to the ground and was human when she shushed him. "Do you want me to get caught?" she asked him. "What are you even doing here? Ozpin told them both you were on an essentially 'permanent' mission."

Qrow landed on two feet, his hands already in his pockets. "I could ask you the same thing," he told her. "And how do _you_ know what Ozpin's been telling them?"

One of the few things he and his sister had learned from the bandits that he actually appreciated was how to argue and be angry without being loud. Nobody in the house would be able to hear them.

"I listened, of course," Raven huffed. "I came to check on Yang when Summer didn't update me for a few months. I was...surprised to say the least when I realized she'd fallen pregnant."

"Well, not as surprised as Tai is going to be if he comes out here to this reunion." Summer's voice was right there, Qrow realized, at the corner of the house. "Raven, I told you, I'm taking a mission next month. I'll have pictures and updates for you. I promise."

Raven glared at Qrow, but she took off. There was quiet between Qrow and Summer, who Qrow could see now, stepping away from the house, the moonlight reflecting off the white jacket she was wearing.

"Uh… hi," Qrow said.

"Hi," Summer replied. She was staring at the ground, a bit of a frown on her face.

"I had meant to come by earlier," he started.

"You _did_ come by earlier," Summer corrected. "I saw you, you know."

"Look, it was a bit of a shock that you and Tai had gotten together," Qrow told her, "and added another person to your family."

Summer scowled. "Tai and I live together, but we aren't _together_."

Qrow tried again. "Well, I mean, I understand. We were never official, and I was gone a long while. I'd be a bad person to be with steadily or raise a family with, anyway."

"Qrow…" Summer's tone was angry and full of warning. "Use your brain."

But Qrow already knew the truth. He just wasn't quite ready to own up to it yet. Not that he thought he had much of a chance to cause a delay. As gentle and forgiving as Summer was, she didn't deal well with lies or diversions off the battlefield.

"Who knows?" Qrow asked her.

"Tai," Summer said. He expected her to continue, but she never did.

"That's it?" His voice sounded incredulous even to himself.

Summer grimaced, but nodded. Then she shrugged. "Probably Ozpin. He'd never admit it, though. Likes to pretend he isn't omnipotent."

"He's not," Qrow told her. "Otherwise, I would have been _here_ at some point in the last two years rather than stumbling all over Remnant looking for Salem or the maidens."

"I wouldn't say you _stumble_ ," Summer told him. "Unless you are particularly drunk."

"Har de har har," Qrow told her. "So very funny, perfect attempt to lighten the mood."

There was a pause.

"What's her name?" _Please don't have named our kid Stark after our team or any other bird name. That stuff got old twenty-some-odd years ago._

"Ruby," Summer told him. "Ruby Rose."

The "Rose" bit probably would have stung another man. To Qrow it didn't matter. He'd never been as loyal to the tribe or the names they assigned as Raven was.

"Do you mind if I see her?" The voice was soft and foreign in his ears. It took him a bit to realize it was his own. The sound of the crossbow knocking back from around the corner startled both he and Summer, interrupting any reply she was about to give.

Qrow turned to face Tai, his hands up in the air, his weapon left at his new quarters at Signal. Tai's deeply set frown melted into an expression of relief.

"Oh, for God's sake, Qrow, I thought you were Raven," Tai said. "I've been trying to keep resolute on the entire 'not taking our toddler out of the frying pan and into the fire' front. Though I know Summer has been sharing insight." He shot Summer a grumpy look. "Well, have you told him yet?"

"He saw her earlier, Tai. Thought she was yours, apparently," Summer replied.

"Well, that _is_ the image we were going for…" Tai reminded her.

Qrow tried not to be hurt.

"I like my private life private, and too many colleagues were getting curious," Summer explained. "I couldn't ask you, and Oz maintained that he hadn't heard from you whenever I got Raven to ask."

"No, it's ok," Qrow found himself saying. "I'm bad luck," he reminded her, "and an alcoholic, and deeply involved in a war, and just overall messed up."

Not that he felt that way. He just knew it was the truth.

"I'm probably just as deeply embedded in the war as you are. Heck, I chose Tai to help me raise Ruby because we were already basically raising Yang and he had pretty much given up field work for fatherhood… Unfortunately, that's not a choice I'm being allowed. I needed a person who was going to be able to be the _present_ parent," Summer's voice was quiet. She sounded embarrassed, even ashamed.

"It was the _right_ call, Summer," Qrow was sure of it. He didn't have to like it, however.

"Well," Tai said awkwardly, "want to come inside and get a good look? They're both all over the place when they're not asleep. Ruby may be little, but she's fast. Asleep is the only chance you'll get to see them without them bombarding you."

"I… yeah."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

 **In Which Qrow Learns That Even More Confusing Emotions Exist**

When he got a good look at the kid, he could barely see any of himself. Only in her nose, the fact that her eyes were more narrow than he would expect from Summer's kid, even as a baby. Mostly, she was a spitting image of her mother, down to the impossibly dark red hair.

He had helped make a person, granted he hadn't helped much at all. The extent of his involvement was even less than most fathers. A few moments of interaction with her mother(on that particular occasion) and ignorance of her existence for a good long while.

"How old is she?" he asked Summer.

"16 months," Summer told him. "She's just over two years younger than Yang."

"I can't believe people bought it that Tai, with how upset he was over Raven, fathered this one so soon after," Qrow told her honestly.

"Hey, Summer is very attractive. It wouldn't be the first time a man coped that way!" Tai defended.

"Tai thought it up. I wanted to tell people he wasn't her father, but refuse to tell them who was. He argued it would be confusing for Yang, who calls me 'mom', and we're already raising them together," Summer clarified.

Qrow was just playing with the baby's hair when a shelf near the crib broke away from the wall and fell. He caught it, but the sound of him slamming everything into the wall startled the kids awake. Ruby looked up at Qrow, startled and frightened, and immediately started screaming and thrashing.

Tai seemed to be running on auto when he scooped her up against his shoulder and started comforting her. It wasn't like Qrow would have been able to grab her with his arms full of stuffed animals and books, but it still brought him back to the reality of the situation. For all intents and purposes, Tai was his kid's dad.

Qrow pulled the other support for the shelf off the wall and put it in the closet. When he turned around, Yang was sitting up in her bed, her hair wild around her and her eyes full of sleep. Ruby was settled against Tai's shoulder.

"Mom?" Yang called.

Summer's attention was focused on her immediately. "Yes?" she asked.

"Who's the man?" Yang asked.

"That's your Uncle Qrow," Summer told her.

Yang seemed confused. "Oh." She went back to sleep. Qrow couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Raven was the same way as a kid. We could have a full on ambush, and she'd just get through it grumpily and go back to sleep as soon as her bedroll was on the ground. We didn't even have to have a tent over our heads," he told them.

Tai looked uncomfortable, angry even, at the mention of her mother's name. Summer laughed. "That sounds like Yang, alright."

Tai settled Ruby back into the crib, and the adults went back to the kitchen for some coffee and conversation around the dining table.

"We could tell her, you know," Summer said, after they had gone through the requisite reminiscing and relaying of latest adventures. Well, his latest adventures, Summer and Tai told him about parenting life and teaching, Summer not having been on a battlefield in two years and Tai only being able to go out Hunting when the school was on break.

Qrow was immediately shaking his head. "Tai's right. It's too confusing for her and Yang. I'll be around when I can regardless, Oz put me at Signal today, wants to keep me close, but there's no telling how long it will last, and I'm sure he'll still be sending me out constantly. She already has to worry about losing a parent in you when you return to Ozpin's circle. She doesn't need to worry about losing her dad, too."

"Not to mention that Qrow's missions can last years, Summer," Tai interjected. "I don't mind. Our kids need us. I can be here for both of them."

Tai had grown in his resolve since Qrow last saw him.

"Besides, you saw what just happened, Summer. She's liable to get hurt anytime I'm alone with her. This is for the best."

Once again, Qrow knew that even if it was true it didn't mean he had to feel good about it.

He ended up falling asleep on the couch that night, and when he woke the next morning there were two silver eyes locked on him. Her gaze was so steady, even for a toddler, that he immediately felt intimidated. Then the moment was gone and she was running off with a giggle, so fast he had trouble believing she was so young.

He stayed the rest of the day. Summer and Tai used his presence as an opportunity to interview the new babysitters, choosing one before midday and then heading out, Summer to take a look at the job board and Taiyang to go check on his classroom at Signal, sheepishly admitting he hadn't been back once the entire break.

Qrow chased after Yang and Ruby and broke up a tug-o-war over a stuffed dog they named Zwei, a long eared, odd looking thing that was worn enough that it took him a moment to realize it was something he had picked up for Yang after a mission once. He served the lunch Summer had left for them, sang the only lullaby he knew four times, and played tea party twice.

As if his semblance wasn't enough to get the two into trouble easily, Ruby was also clumsy. She tripped over air, slipped in mud, was attracted to stairs, and when he finally got them to take a nap, he spent the entire time obsessively slipping her limbs back through the bars of her crib.

By noon, he wanted to cover her in pillows, spray them in a flame retardant, and cover the entire ensemble with some sturdy steel armor.

Yang was fiercely independent, happy to play alone when Ruby and her didn't agree, not that he understood how two kids so small got into disagreements. He couldn't even understand half the things they said. Ruby was pretty limited to Zwei, Ice Cream, Milk, Hungry, Ouchie, mama, and dad. Yang was much more conversational, but she was wary of Qrow. When Yang woke from nap and Ruby stayed asleep, he took Yang outside and helped her "practice her landing strategy" by throwing her up in the air a couple of feet and then catching her on the way down.

Ruby woke up around half past two, and when Qrow took Yang with him upstairs she was still yelling "Again, Uncle Qrow, again!"

Ruby got some of the same treatment, though gentler. When the older, rickety chair Qrow was sitting on the porch watching them from lost a leg, he moved to the grass at the foot of the stairs.

He had to improvise a dinner. Having never cooked a day in his life, he ordered a meal from the nearest delivery. While waiting outside for the driver, there was an incident involving a small Grimm, and he had to improvise using a cleaver from the kitchen. He set it aside with a mental note to pay Summer and Tai back for it.

Tai and Summer arrived not long after the driver. Qrow relayed the day to them and thanked the foresight that told him to order for them as well. Summer told him she rarely used the cleaver, anyway.

"I'll pick up another one eventually," she said with a shrug.

Tai was behind on new lesson plans, the headmaster having asked him to change a few things in the curriculum to accommodate Qrow's changes to the linked course. Tai taught hand-to-hand and strategy. Qrow was to be in charge of weaponry and practical battle skills.

"We aren't even in school anymore, and you're still stranding me with extra homework," Tai joked.

Qrow just smirked. The girls were falling asleep in their seats after all that food, and Qrow joined Summer in putting them to bed. Summer told them the story of the four maidens. Ruby and Yang were out like lights.

As Summer closed the door, he could hear Ruby's tiny voice call out "Goo-nai mama. Goo-nai Unca Qoh."

Summer must have seen his face fall. Anybody else would have just thought he was tired or something, but Summer knew. "I still say we can tell her," she told Qrow.

"It'll be fine, Summer. Look, I gotta head to Signal. There's a blacksmith instructor on his way in, and he was supposed to send his requirements for a forge ahead of him. I have got to make that happen."

Summer had nodded. "I can come by tomorrow and help out," she offered.

"I'd appreciate it, but somehow Ruby and fire sound like a dangerous combination," he had a smile on his face as he looked up at the window to the nursery.

Summer nodded. "See ya later," she told him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

 **In Which Qrow Learns That State of the Art Forges are a** _ **Lot**_ **of Work**

When Qrow saw the list of necessary supplies for weapon production on a schoolwide scale, his jaw dropped. He was startled even more when, upon approaching the headmaster, the budget for the project was approved. The orders were sent out immediately, some going as far as Vacuo. He didn't understand why so many furnaces were necessary, or why they needed a temperature gauge for all of the furnaces, or why they needed so many different anvil and hammer sizes and types. The tribe had always made do with a rather rudimentary forge they had made themselves. Alright, it was a glorified oven, but it worked.

The first of the shipments began arriving a week later, and Qrow went to work organizing the forge to the blacksmith's specifications, claiming a warehouse the school had used once upon a time for weapon storage. He had thought it overkill when the headmaster had authorized a staff of a few blacksmiths to help the students, and serve the surrounding Hunters and Huntresses, the younger generation of which had yet to find a small blacksmith to be loyal to and would need help learning how to tell pot metal from folded steel. Upon seeing his classlist he realized it may have been _under_ kill. The understaffing problem was going to become a giant muck monster of backorders almost as soon as the damn thing opened.

The headmaster had seen his expression. "And the class sizes only grow every year, Mr. Branwen," he had told him with a smirk.

Summer ended up coming on Thursday. "What on Earth is all of this stuff?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Qrow told her. "I've been labeling it all as it gets here and just following directions."

He had a roll of tape around his wrist and a permanent marker behind one ear, his back against a furnace as he pushed it across the room. Summer lost it, laughing uncontrollably. "You? Following directions?"

Qrow wasn't amused. "I follow directions just fine, thank you!"

Summer snorted, nearly losing her composure again. Qrow pivoted to face her. "If you're only here to ridicule me, you should sit down. It won't do to hurt yourself carrying around a box before you can go on your first return hunt."

Summer smiled at him, picked up a cardboard box full of hammers, and raised her eyebrows at him.

Qrow sighed. "3rd forge bay on the right side, just put it under the workbench. Actually, there should be one of those boxes at each forge bay, under the workbenches. I have 3 through 8 left on the right side to finish, and 9 through 14 on the left."

Summer nodded and took off. One of the benefits to her using a fairly heavy weapon is that she could move around heavy objects with little fuss. Summer was short, defined, and pear shaped, built as a warrior rather than an assassin, with strong limbs. Being job-free for a bit had not impacted her physique much.

Qrow was unashamedly taking advantage of the fact that she had ditched her combat skirt and cloak for a pair of form fitting pants and a hoodie. It couldn't hurt to look, could it?

"I can feel your stare, Qrow!" she called. "Get to work, would ya?"

He was chuckling even as he pushed one of the forges down the path between bays, grateful the delivery men had left the wheels under the pallets.

They continued bantering anytime they passed each other, giving up and ordering delivery for dinner around 7. There was still work to be done, but Summer was leaving the next morning on her first job in two years. Today was Tai's test run to see how the girls and he would do with her gone and the nanny on the premises.

At some point during the day Qrow's marker had burst all over his ear, hair, neck, and shirt. He left Summer in his room to wait for the delivery while he washed up in the en suite. He came outside to the girl-woman, he corrected himself, sitting on the counter of his kitchenette with a frown, her takeout carton in one hand, chopsticks in the other, looking completely lost to the world.

He made sure to let the chair scrape against the floor when he pulled it around to face her, grabbing his carton off the little table and digging in. She had flinched, so he knew she was back. He kept his eyes on her and waited.

"You know, Ozpin told us he didn't know where you were."

Her voice was soft, but the words hit hard and cold. He shifted in his seat and put the food behind him, suddenly not hungry even though he had been starving a moment before. "Yeah, well, that's more or less true." He let the words hang between them for a while before continuing. "I was supposed to be just following whatever leads I could find when it came to Salem or the remaining two maidens. I went weeks without coming back out of my feathers. I only just caught a solid lead, and after I delivered it where Oz wanted it, he put the entire search on the back burner. He wants to keep me here now. I don't know why he never told you I was calling. Don't know why he never told me about what was going on at home."

He didn't tell her she could have called, no matter how much he wanted to. It wouldn't do any good, and he didn't _really_ blame her.

"He told _me_ your number changed," Summer said after a long while, still fiddling with her food. She hadn't even looked up yet.

"Ah. Sometimes, when I go between feathered and not, I lose my scroll. Or clothes. Once I lost the scythe, went back looking for that one. So I _might_ have switched numbers," though the thought had never occurred to him. He just met up with a contact of Oz's and got a scroll from them. Oz paid the bill, did he not keep track of the numbers?

The heavy mood broke almost immediately, Summer's head snapping up to stare at him. "You've lost your _clothes_?"

Qrow felt blood rushing to his face. "Not _often_. I've only had it happen twice. I'm still getting the hang of this magic thing," he defended. "I notice, by the way. Well, except for the scrolls. I feel the clothes falling off or hear the scythe hit the floor. I'm just sometimes trying to run away from someone or something I am not supposed to engage, and I have to get going fast. Next thing I know, I mess it up."

Sometimes, Qrow forgot they were still pretty young, being Ozpin's go-to team, his favorites even while they were still students, it was a shock to admit they messed up and messed up frequently. Besides, most Hunters did _not_ live long lives. He would be the first to admit he wasn't quite mature, though. It was conversations with Summer that used to serve as a constant reminder. The past two years of flying around the damn world on the whim of an immortal warrior magician had made him lose a lot of touch of who he was as a person. It would have been nice to have Tai or Summer or even Raven's unhinged self to remind him.

"It's okay. Sometimes I lose concentration with the eye thing and 'petrified' Grimm start moving," Summer told him conspiratorially. "Oh! Once I lost concentration with the maiden powers-"

She cut herself off and her face fell.

"What happened?" Qrow prompted.

"Well, I was flying… mostly it's all practice with them, I think I've used it in a fight a total of three times. Let's just say that while you don't have to think of a landing strategy in the middle of an ocean as hard as you do in the middle of a forest, the water can be cold… especially when that ocean is arctic."

Qrow flinched. "Ooof."

"Let's not talk about it."

He couldn't wipe the smirk off his face as he started back into his food, pushing through the initial nausea his anxiety was giving him.

"Do you have anything to drink?" Summer asked him.

"There should be some whiskey in the cupboard over the stove."

Summer filled a decently sized glass, then sat at his little table and began sipping. Her foot was tapping incessantly against the table's leg.

"Nervous?" he asked her.

She nodded. "This is going to be my first time really away from Ruby," she sighed.

"I'll help out Tai however I can."

It felt almost like a vow. He felt like rolling his eyes. Of course he would help with Ruby and Yang. He had been helping with Yang from day one, and that had been when he was taking constant away jobs and had not felt as if she was his responsibility, especially as he felt that Ruby was a responsibility he had unknowingly shirked. He had a weak spot for kids, to boot, and that probably helped quite a bit, too.

He wondered if he would ever earn the right to claiming paternal instincts, and the thought took him off on a trip of self reflection and doubt that he would never, ever admit to.

Summer had been speaking, reassuring him from the tone of her voice. More like reassuring herself, but acting as if she was reassuring him. He continued to gloss over her words and hum at appropriate pauses as he poured himself a glass and sat with her.

"Anyway, I know that she will be fine. Being so close to Signal, having a retired Huntress as a nanny, being with Tai, having you here as well, it all adds up to a very well defended pair of toddlers. Yang has been fine, Ruby will… be… fine…"

She had finished her glass sometime while he was lost in thought, so he gave her a refill.

"I really shouldn't," she said.

Qrow shrugged. "Shouldn't, but it's an easy enough job, and I've been doing it for years, I figure you have earned a turn. Ain't like you haven't done it before."

Summer chuckled into her glass as she raised it to her lips.

"At least you don't get hungover easily," Qrow told her, silently dreading tomorrow if he kept up his current pace.

"Hmm... that's partially a maiden thing, I think."

"Well, I am probably going to quit after my second glass, honestly. I have to finish up the tool storage and then supervise the plumbers and contractors that are hooking everything up as far as fire suppression and ignition stuff…"

"Do you even know what that really entails?" Summer was laughing at him.

"No clue, but the blacksmiths made it sound _real_ important."

Summer laughed and downed her drink. "I gotta head back soon. It's my last night at home and I need to check on how the girls did with the new nanny."

"Sure, but don't worry about 'em. If Tai'd had a problem, he would've called you."

Summer smiled. "Probably," she said bluntly. "Or, if it was embarrassing…"

"He'd cover it up at all costs," Qrow finished for her. "Alright, see you in a few days."

Qrow sat at the table a while after Summer left, staring at the empty seat.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

 **In Which Ruby Learns a New Word**

The nanny had done passably and Summer left the next morning before the girls woke up without a hitch. Qrow got most of the forges set up before the plumbers and electricians showed up and ripped the entire building to shreds. He was assured that everything would be put back where it belonged by the electrician, a young faunus man with grey eyes and claws.

Term started in 3 weeks, which his superintendent continuously reminded him of, and about which the electrician and plumber both extensively complained. "We're on a time crunch here, if you have any modifications you best make 'em now. We aren't going to have _time_ later."

Qrow felt like rolling his eyes, but he just set up meetings with the blacksmith to set up a better in-class lesson plan for weapon descriptions and build ideas in younger students and design help in older students. He finally got the blacksmith's name, too, Landon.

"For god's sake, please stress that not everything has to be a gun," Landon finished up his side of the discussion on design.

Qrow felt a bit personally attacked, his fingers absently running over the trigger on his scythe and his cheeks getting warm. He would never forget that. After all, Tai didn't have a gun or a sword, he only had the cross bow and explosive dust in his vambraces. Raven had never even entertained the idea of a gun.

"I'll have you know two of my teammates don't have guns," Qrow said.

Landon grunted, Qrow could tell it didn't matter to him, Qrow was inherently a gun enthusiast because he put a shotgun in his handle. _Trust me to find a blade purist for a blacksmith,_ he thought. He spotted the short handled hammer hanging at the guy's hip. _Nevermind, he's just anti-dust._

The rest of the day passed in the stuffy office he had been given as an instructor, researching different weapon fighting techniques and brushing up the lesson plans. He made a mental note to put up some posters and throw out the stock images that the previous instructor(or perhaps the headmaster) had left in here for him. He also needed to go through weapons storage and simplify it. They didn't need a weapon for each child, the kids didn't take them with them, for goodness's sake. They were way too young to be armed 24/7 for the most part, and the weapons fabrication course would take care of the kids who _were_ old enough. He'd have to give up drinking during the term, it would already be dangerous enough for these kids to be learning how to handle their first blades, guns, hammers, and maces around him just with his semblance alone. If he were to be drunk, he wouldn't be able to respond in time to keep them safe. His safety he could jeopardize. Other people's kids' safety? Not so much.

He dragged his feet on his way out of the building, intent on getting something to eat. It was difficult to be a loner and sober, he decided. He missed the times when his team was younger because they nearly never did solo missions then, he had always had someone he trusted around.

It was as he was stopping in at burger joint that he realized Tai was still at home with Ruby and Yang. They wouldn't mind him stopping in, at least he hoped not. He was fairly certain he had a standing ovation to spend time with his family.

 _Family._ The thought left an odd taste in his mouth, something akin to soap. His brother-in-law, his niece, and his kid, not that his kid would ever know she was his if he had any say in it, so his _other_ neice. Unless she actually did inherit his luck, or she suddenly realized she was too small and too dark haired to be Tai's kid. He scoffed. Blond and blue eyed were recessive traits, he reminded himself. No one would ever know.

He pulled out his scroll and called Tai just to be sure.

"Yo!" Tai yelled. Qrow could hear Ruby crying in the background. Yang was yelling in the background..

"Is this a bad time?" he asked.

"No, no! It's… well. Yes, actually, I can't get either of these two to sit down for dinner," Tai sounded resigned.

"Oh." Qrow had no idea what to contribute to this particular problem. The last time he had needed to get a child to eat, Yang had been an infant, he had just plopped her in a high chair and made her think she was getting chocolate instead of carrot puree.

"Anyway, what did you need? It's not that big of a deal." Tai had to raise his voice to be heard over the kids.

"I was going to ask if I could eat with you guys. It's depressing to have to eat alone without at least a stiff drink," Qrow began, "but I don't want to intrude."

"No, no, head on over. I'll set a plate."

Qrow could hear the click of Tai's scroll as he closed it.

Qrow went through an alley and past the treeline, checking for people behind him before he was flying off.

He heard his scroll hit a tree root and was back on two legs in a second. "Damn nerves," he muttered as he picked it up. This time when he took off, he made sure to think about what it felt like to have feathers rather than worrying about whether or not he was domestic enough.

* * *

When he got to the house the first thing he noticed was some kind of sauce on the kitchen window. He knocked loudly at the door to be heard over the two little girls he could hear screaming inside.

Tai opened the door looking flushed, a suddenly quiet but very red Yang hanging off one of his legs. "Hey," he panted.

"It took me 15 minutes to get here and they're _still_ not calmed down?" Qrow asked.

Tai shook his head and began chuckling, sounding a little hysterical. "Dude, they haven't been quiet since before the nanny left. I think they finally figured out Summer is not coming home tonight."

Qrow frowned. "Wasn't Yang used to that before?"

Tai scoffed. "You think she remembers things from when she was _one_? Yeah, no. She barely remembers that she peed the bed three days ago, and that actually upset her. Do you remember anything from when you were a baby?"

Qrow shrugged. "I always just figured I didn't want to remember, considering I was raised by a bunch of bandits. There's no telling if my mom was actually my mom or just happened upon us in a raid, honestly."

Tai frowned. "You know, I feel there's a lot I should have learned about your family before I dove headfirst into a marriage with your sister," he said. He was barely audible over the girls.

"I would make a comment, but it's my sister and I don't even want to think about it," Qrow told him. He pushed past Tai and into the kitchen, where Ruby was laid flat on her back on the floor, holding a table leg and staring at the ceiling. She looked like she was tired.

"Did the nanny remember their nap?" he asked Tai.

"How do _you_ remember nap?" Tai asked incredulously. "She said she did…"

"Summer stressed the importance of naps repeatedly yesterday. Seemed to think you would need help. Also seemed to think a man who flies around the world sleeping in trees and drinking more whiskey than is healthy could help you, which may not have been the best idea."

Tai turned red. "It's like she forgets that I've been doing this whole parenting thing longer than she has."

Qrow shrugged. "She's a mom."

 _Not that I know much about how moms act. Mine used to leave me in the care of whatever kid was too young to raid, but old enough to boss us around._

This made him think of Raven's insecurity in being a mom, about his own surety that he could _never_ be a father to Ruby. _Maybe Tai_ should _have asked more questions before he jumped into a marriage with my big sister, and maybe it was a good thing I wasn't around. Summer might have wanted Ruby to know the truth, and that could have been... bad._

Qrow crouched next to Ruby and picked her up, surprised when she cuddled into his neck. _She's probably just tired._

"She hasn't let me pick her up since I broke out the highchair," Tai grumbled.

Qrow began to rock her, not really knowing what he was supposed to do but remembering calming down Yang with Summer hanging over him this way. He turned to Tai and Yang. Yang was wearing a completely impractical mass of fluffy fabric in the brightest pink he had ever seen. There was peanut butter and crumbs all over it.

He was struck by an idea and before he knew it, he was crouching so he could look Yang in the eyes. "Hey, kiddo," he tried. "How'd you like to have a princess tea party?" he asked.

Yang sniffled one more time before she nodded. Qrow breathed a sigh of relief.

"Please tell me you have a tea set?" he said in a sweet voice directed at Tai, but still smiling at Yang.

"Uh… I think so," Tai said. "I think Oz gave Summer one last year some time." Tai turned to look through the cupboards while Qrow led Yang to the table.

The tea set was found and filled with milk "tea", the table set, and the food cut into tiny "hors d'oeuvres" before Yang could catch on to the plan. Qrow was grateful she wasn't old enough to realize tea wasn't typically served with full meals.

He was getting ready to sit down himself when Tai got his attention. "You may want to go put her to bed. She's out like a light." It took Qrow a moment to figure out what he meant. Ruby was splayed against him, her head against his(bony, uncomfortable) shoulder and her arms thrown haphazardly around his neck, barely holding on.

Qrow went to set her in bed and felt completely uncomfortable with the entire situation. Still, he took a breath. He would not be his sister. He would not run away. If he felt this uncomfortable without anyone but Tai knowing the truth, he could only imagine how Summer had felt as an unwed woman who was quiet and reserved, who was considered ruthless even among others who shared her profession, and who's biological partner in this had not only been unreliable, but completely MIA for two years. He could figure out how to be the best uncle possible, the most helpful he could be to Tai, Summer, and these kids.

 _No matter that it makes me feel constantly like I'm going to hurl, pee my pants, and have a heart attack all at once._

He went back into the kitchen to sit at the table, serving himself a plate after asking permission from _Princess_ Yang. His appetite had all but vanished even though he had been ravenous beforehand and flying usually made him a glutton.

It wasn't long before Yang fell asleep while eating. Tai cleaned her up with practiced ease, took off her costume dress, and took her up to bed without her making a peep. When he came back Qrow's chin was propped up on one hand, his eyes distant and shoulders slumped.

"That kinda day?"

Qrow nearly jumped. _Nearly_ because he had known Tai was there, he just had not expected him to speak. "If one more person reminds me that term starts in three weeks, I'm going to lose my mind."

It wasn't what was really bothering him, but it was better than telling Tai he was angry, hurt, anxious, scared, and jealous. It was certainly better than telling him that he felt left out. He had always known there was a small chance he'd end up a father, especially because he had gotten comfortable with Summer. He was always more careful with random girls, but he had known Summer so long, and he legitimately trusted her with his life. She had saved his life multiple times, as a matter of fact. _The entire point of the act to begin with is in fact procreation_ , he reminded himself. He felt like an imbecile for being scared, or angry, or in any way surprised. The kid was already a toddler, the family situation figured out before he even knew she was alive. It still bothered him.

All of these thoughts happened within a few seconds, which he was immensely grateful for considering that if they hadn't, he would have missed the sound of Tai's startled, but quiet "Shit!"

Qrow was alert in an instant. "What?" he asked.

"I only have three weeks?" Tai was incredulous. "Three weeks until the start of term?"

Qrow relaxed. "Yes, Tai, three weeks until we are up to our eyeballs in armed children." If his voice was dry, it was excusable considering he had thought there was an emergency.

"Shit. Fuck. Heavens bless me," Tai was full on panicking. "I was supposed to turn in the new year's lesson plans two weeks ago."

Qrow felt a moment of surprise at having been more responsible for Tai for the first time in his entire life. Then a little voice came from behind them. "Chit fug."

His spine went cold. Summer was going to blame _him_ for this one. He turned his head to the doorway. There stood Ruby, clutching the damned stuffed dog to her chest, staring at Tai with a puzzled expression.

"I am not taking the blame for this," Qrow said. He got Ruby and set her in a chair, serving her a bowl of cereal and beginning to feed her. Certain foods she could feed herself, but Qrow was not up to finding out if cereal was one of them, considering all the liquid involved he doubted it would result in anything but a mess. Tai glared at the bowl. "The food's been out too long," Qrow told him.

Tai went to put the dishes in the sink. "She'll forget it by morning," he assured Qrow. "I can't believe I forgot to turn in my lesson plans."

Qrow couldn't either. "Is this the first time?" he asked.

"Well, yes, but-"

"Are you changing much?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Tai, it'll be fine," Qrow's tone bore no room for arguments. "I'll take it with me back to Signal tomorrow."

"Alright."

It was a little longer before Ruby finished eating, and when Qrow went to bring her out of her seat he noticed her diaper was soaked. He held her away from himself a bit, honestly not sure he remembered the last time he changed a diaper or how one went about doing so.

"Uh... Tai?" he asked.

Tai didn't even look. "This one's all you, man. She's a squirmer."

"Tai, I don't know how to change a diaper," Qrow was a bit exasperated.

"Sure you do. The part with the picture goes in the front, the tabs go in the back. Unfold the tabs and stick them to the front," Tai said flippantly.

"So do I just stand her up or...?"

Tai shot Qrow a look. "You lay her on her back, doofus."

Qrow's shoulders began to hunch, a sure sign he was feeling defensive. "I don't know how to do this," he insisted.

"It's not even a poo, Qrow. You used to change Yang's."

"I prepared myself for _months_ before I changed Yang's diapers," he began, "and she didn't move this much. I only fou-" he cut himself off, but the expression on Tai's face spoke volumes.

So much for keeping the worst to himself.

"Get over yourself and go change her diaper, man. How did you get through a day of watching them without changing her even once?" his voice was incredulous. He handed Qrow a diaper from a bag hanging off the back door.

Qrow took it and began making his way to the living room. A couch would probably be more comfortable than the floor, he decided. "She didn't have any accidents when I watched her," he called.

It was a bit like riding a bike, he discovered. As soon as he set her down he remembered the basics: wipe front to back, put the new diaper under the old one before you move it so if they pee there is less mess, etc. He was pulling her pants back up, a bit uncomfortable. Summer's voice in his ear, "if you put your thumb on her hip gently, she can't roll." The advice had been about Yang, but it seemed just as effective for Ruby.

"Hold up," Tai said, coming into the room and looking confused. "She didn't have any accidents? Qrow, she isn't even potty training, much less trained."

"Look, every time Yang went, I just kinda held her over the toilet and waited until she peed," Qrow was red.

Tai looked confused.

"You didn't tell me where the diapers were and I just figured it was a back-up measure. I don't know. Do I look like I spend a lot of time around kids?" Ruby was laying on the couch still, looking as if she was about ready to fall back asleep.

"You're wearing a pink tutu right now, do you want me to answer that?"

"Yeah, well, it was fine. Awkward. But fine. Ok? So let's just not..."

Tai picked up Ruby and took her to bed, he came back down and went into the kitchen, grabbing a couple of glasses and a bottle of juice.

"Can't drink with two kids to watch," he said with a smile.

Qrow chuckled. "I'm trying to quit until the next break."

Tai snorted. "Good luck with that. Even I have some every few weekends. It makes grading easier."

Qrow shrugged. "Last thing I need is a kid poking an eye out their first time holding a weapon."

There was a grunt of agreement and a long pause.

"So you're taking it that bad?"

Qrow's shoulders got tense. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

He drank some of his apple juice. "Summer should be back in three days?" he asked.

Tai nodded. "She's still in Vale, just a day or two south of here. She _might_ be back early, or late. It depends on if the Grimm population is particularly strong."

"She'll be back early if not on time," Qrow assured him. "She's out of practice, but she's still Summer."

Tai smirked. "Yeah, that's definitely true. She still hands my rear to me on training days."

"Armed or unarmed?" Qrow asked.

"Armed, Qrow," Tai seemed offended. "I _am_ a hand-to-hand instructor, you know."

Qrow chuckled. "Give me your lesson plans and I'll head out and slip them into the headmaster's office tonight rather than making you do it in the morning.

Tai went upstairs and got them. Qrow walked back to the school, careful to hold on to the envelope. The headmaster had already gone to bed when he got back, which made it easy to slip the lesson plan in between his own and the science teacher's lesson plans. Sometimes he forgot that Signal had to meet the general education requirements every other school did. Not all of these children would go on to be hunters, after all.

When he flopped onto his bed it took him hours to fall asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: In Which Qrow Learns What True Panic Feels Like**

Summer was not back in 3 days. They heard the news from Glynda that the Grimm population had spiked while Summer was en route. The small town had hundreds if not thousands of Grimm and only two Hunters to defend it: Summer and a man named Lee who lived there. Glynda was on her way out to help with population control and rebuild. She would also be helping with evacuation if necessary.

Qrow and Tai settled in for the long haul. After the second day of Qrow needing to stay past 9 pm in order to help out, he took Summer's bedroom as a temporary lodging and Tai and he began to travel together to and from work every day.

* * *

Summer, meanwhile, was frustrated with her impromptu team member. She had observed him enough to know that his arrogance was intolerable, he never listened when she warned him, and he treated her like garbage because she was "inexperienced" in his words after taking approximately two years off to give birth and care for an infant. She set off on her own to blow off some steam and take down a group of Grimm holed up in a cliff south of the town.

It wasn't long before she was breathing hard, feeling more in her element than she had felt in years. She turned toward an Ursa and drove her axe through its head, splitting the skull down the center. It took a bit of effort to pull the axe out, and then she was swinging it toward her next target. It was as if more and more Grimm were materializing out of thin air, pouring out of the caves in the cliff wall, rushing in from the forest. Her arms were burning by the time she took down the first Death Stalker. She had to use dust to bring down a Never More, surrounded by too many Grimm to jump up and take it down without a projectile, finishing it up with more conventional means.

She began to feel as if she had made a grievous error by doing this, over confident in her own abilities and proving Lee right, she was too out of practice to be jumping in to save the day. A moment later, in a moment of despair, the Griffon that had been about to strike froze in mid-air, and she took a deep breath. I came out here to destress, not stress myself out more.

She began by attacking the Griffon, and it did not take long to take it down now that it was immobile. After she was hopping from place to place before any of the Grimm could figure out where she was.

She exhausted herself, but she avoided using any maiden abilities. By the end of the day, she had eradicated most of the Grimm in this particular area, though there were some that had escaped and this pocket didn't account for most of the population surrounding the town, either.

What in Remnant has caused so many of them to congregate here? She wondered. By all accounts, this is one of the smallest, most peaceful towns in all of Vale.

She began her trek back to the town. When it was visible through the tree line and there wasn't a plume of smoke or any screaming she breathed a sigh of relief. When she got back to the Dappled Forest Inn, she was surprised to find the innkeeper waiting for her. He looked nervous.

"There is a problem," he told her. He stopped, as if waiting for a response, and Summer found herself becoming irritated all over again.

"What's the problem?" she prompted. If her aggravation was audible, she would blame it on the fact that she had just been feeling like a professional again, and this man was making her feel like a babysitter.

"Well, there is another huntress on her way, a woman named Glynda, a man named Ozpin wanted me to make sure I told you that," he began. Summer nodded, trying to hurry him along. She figured as soon as she went over the third day that Ozpin would send someone, and since Beacon had a semester start date a few weeks after that of Signal, she had assumed it would be someone from Beacon. "However, Lee injured himself trying to find you earlier today and was then attacked by a few Grimm."

Summer's shoulders slumped. "Oh." This would slow down her efforts at getting this town back to being safe. She had made serious headway in the Grimm population today, but with Lee injured, she couldn't leave the village until Glynda arrived.

"Do you have a doctor looking over him?" she asked.

The innkeeper nodded. "He is being well cared for. He seems to have broken a bone in his leg, but we don't have the necessary machinery here to verify."

"How did he break his leg?" she asked incredulously. "I was less than five miles away through a fairly easy walk in a forest, all he needed to do was find the cliff wall. I wasn't even up the cliff today."

The innkeeper coughed. "He got his foot caught in an animal burrow."

Summer sighed, but she understood that people who weren't watching where they stepped often ended up with such injuries. "Well, I handled most of the Grimm south of here. So we should find a small lull in activity."

Thinking about this she decided it would be best to have a town meeting about her ability to cull the Grimm, the resulting relief through the population of the town would raise moral and decrease the reproduction rate of the Grimm. She would still need to find whatever had increased the Grimm here in the first place, however. While she was restricted to the town, she would be able to begin her investigation rather than focusing on keeping the people from getting killed and possibly raided.

"Well, let's have a discussion with whoever is considered in charge besides Lee and let people know most of the Grimm population is under controlled," Summer began, "and then I'm going to need to ask questions around town."

Her heart clenched at the prospect of even more time away from her girls. She had taken this job because it had been easy, only a couple of days away, and even that was a massive chunk when her kids were so young that it seemed they grew and learned new things every few moments.

Qrow and Tai have it handled, she reassured herself. Even so, she knew that tonight would be one of many that she would worry over her girls even while she stood guard.

* * *

It was difficult taking care of the girls. Qrow and Tai were both exhausted. The nanny had been fired after the first week because she had not been adhering to the girls' eating and napping schedule, which made it really difficult to console them when Tai and Qrow were finally "home". Thankfully, the daycare at Signal had had two openings come up, the lack of which beforehand had meant that Tai had needed to hire a nanny. Qrow felt a bit uncomfortable filling out the paperwork, putting Tai and Summer as their parents/guardians had been a no-brainer, but putting himself as an emergency contact, the primary emergency contact at that, gave him a bit of pause. The idea of someone trusting him with children in an emergency was a tad uncomfortable, though he figured it wouldn't be a common occurrence and he was already being trusted with armed, albeit older, children.

And you're with those kiddos constantly, why does this one bit of barely official paperwork bother you?

He felt perplexed at the workings of his own brain.

As he settled into Summer's bed that night, he wondered that Yang had never questioned the fact that her parents slept in separate beds, then he stopped himself with a snort. She was a kid, this was always her normal, and she probably never thought twice about it. He was glad in that moment that kids didn't have the same prejudices when it came to family life that adults did.

He was also grateful that Summer typically slept alone. He'd been sharing sleeping quarters with her off and on since they were teenagers and she had never changed shampoo, detergent, or deodorant. The smell of her bedding was comforting in a way he wouldn't admit to himself until he could get the courage to have a decent conversation with the woman.

* * *

Summer's town meeting went over well, but the Grimm still seemed to be manifesting themselves too regularly for her liking. She began to ask around town, but there were nearly no thefts of crime of any kind. It was an exceedingly small town, she knew, but the continued Grimm presence meant that somewhere in the town, if not nearby, there was something that was brewing enough malevolence for them to breed.

It took another day before Glynda arrived. Summer took this opportunity to get some much needed rest. By the time she woke a few hours later, Glynda had used her glyphs to shore up the defenses around the town, adding a rudimentary log wall and some spikes to deter the earthbound Grimm. Summer had already organized a rotation of watch teams from the villagers, yet another thing Lee had complained about because she was apparently incompetent if she thought these people could do anything against Grimm. The blacksmith of the town had taken 4 out during his first shift, Lee had shut up not long after.

Beyond that, the early warnings of Grimm sightings from the villagers had meant that Summer and Lee both could get some rest, which was even more important now that Lee's idiot self had wound up in bed injured. Glynda's assessment of Lee was cold. Glynda typically had an abrupt and cold nature, but this particular person had her telling Summer all about the hazards of working with utter imbeciles.

"What have you discovered about the Grimm presence?" Glynda asked.

"Nothing. I haven't been able to really look around because of the constant attacks and Lee's being out," Summer voice conveyed her annoyance well enough that Glynda did not comment on the lack of progress any further.

"Well, we're going to need a plan," Glynda told her.

"You aren't much for field work," Summer began.

"No. It's something that has made our working relationship more effective." Glynda's voice was calm. She knew very well how Summer liked to talk through strategy as she was still thinking. That did not mean she understood where this particular conversation was leading.

"You can stay behind and guard, as you typically do, while I track the Grimm populations. I'm thinking the attacks on the town may be a consequence of their being nearby, but I no longer think that the concentration is centered around the town itself," Summer told her. "I might be gone a day or two. Possibly three."

Glynda nodded. "It is going to be more difficult without the hunter typically assigned here to help me," she told Summer. "I'm going to have to limit you to two days. If you aren't back after then, I will contact the council of Vale and Ozpin directly to coordinate reinforcements. If in the 72 hours after that attempt at contact I receive neither reinforcements nor contact from you, I will begin the process of evacuating the townspeople to the nearest settlement."

Summer nodded. The trek itself wasn't very dangerous, just long. Overnights without walls and with the stress of evacuation were dangerous.

"I will leave in the morning. Let me get my things together tonight, and I'll see what I can do to get you more hands for defense." Summer considered everything for a few seconds. "The blacksmith here typically makes horseshoes and farm tools, but he's a dab hand with a hammer and he's made a few basic, decent quality weapons for the people who volunteered for patrols. I think it would be best to have him take the first shift of the night, while you're still resting before prime Grimm time."

Glynda nodded. "That would get me more quality rest," she agreed. "What about someone to be on shift with me?"

"There's a boy, barely sixteen, who moved down from Atlas to live with his aunt here after the death of his mother. He knows sword work pretty well. He is supposed to be starting at Beacon this coming semester, but he missed his trip up, understandably, and will have to start later."

Glynda huffed. "Ozpin already made accommodations. I know who you're speaking about. He's a bit arrogant and his foot work is not as good as he thinks."

Summer laughed. "He's a sixteen year old boy, of course he's overconfident. I think it's in their DNA. He wouldn't have made it in if he weren't passable."

Glynda grunted. Her spectacles caught the light in such a way that made her look even more intimidating than usual.

Summer smiled. "Let me see if I can get a quiet alert set up in case of an attack. I had all of the sirens disconnected because the villagers kept setting them off every time they spotted a Grimm, causing massive panic and attracting even more Grimm."

"It's a brutal cycle." Glynda seemed amused.

* * *

In the end, Summer was able to set up a system of lights to let those on guard duty alert each other, and especially Glynda, of attacks, complete with a watch tower from which to observe them all. The lights were dim enough not to disturb those who weren't on the lookout, put on rooftops to cause as little disruption as possible. When dealing with as many Grimm as they were and with a limited number of fighters it was important to have minimal fuss.

Summer took to the treetops, being that this area was so densely wooded. She made her way to the cliff nearby to begin scouting, using the scope of her rifle to track Grimm activity from afar. The hardest part, she decided, was avoiding detection and fights with Grimm. It would be pointless to be tracking them if they were all sent into a frenzy by her presence.

On the third day she was finally able to isolate the breeding pools where most Grimm were "born", a ways southeast of the village, far enough from any currently in use besides the town she had been sent to defend. She knew there had been a fishing village not 15 miles from these breeding pools just five years ago, she had been part of the team sent here to evacuate the village of remaining citizens when the production had moved further north to take advantage of a better marine migratory route. Laid-off employees, their families, and the support industries like grocers, repairmen, blacksmith, and teachers had all needed a guard, paid for by the fishing company, to escort them back to the city.

She'd even had a little bit of cash to spend as an allowance from the company, which had been a nice perk to remember the mission for.

She began the trek there, "zapping" herself, as Qrow liked to call her semblance, to the farthest point in her field of vision for a while so that she could stay in the treetops before checking her aura and deciding that jumping would be less exhausting. If this scouting was successful, she would make it back just in time to let Glynda know that her call for rescue was unnecessary.

She wondered, not for the first time, what she looked like to anyone who happened to be watching her. To her there was no transition, which was nauseating. One moment she was looking at a location, the next she willed herself to be there and the scenery abruptly changed. There was a feeling as if someone had their hand wrapped around her sternum, a feeling she had unfortunately had verified after breaking six ribs and displacing it once, but that faded so instantaneously it didn't even fully register as pain.

She followed the road loosely as it led into town, keeping far enough off of it that she would not run into anyone on the way if her suspicions were right. As she approached the fishery on the edge of the town, she saw that the generators were running and lights throughout the building were on and bright enough she could see them in daylight. There were armed guards milling about outside though there were no uniforms and their faces were unobstructed.

She made the decision to turn tail and run back to Glynda. She couldn't remember the town well enough to teleport directly there and even if she did the jump would exhaust her aura to the point she would either die or be useless for days, neither of which running would cause. The trip would take more than one day, but at least that would give her time to call Ozpin and make sure she had proper support to bring down whatever was going on here. There was no telling what was going on inside and she had never been able to blend in as well as Qrow or Tai. She didn't have the authoritative air that Raven surrounded herself in. She was trained in hard takedowns, tactics, and data processing, not espionage or infiltration.

She was filled with a sense of dread and panic knowing that either way this all went she would not be seeing her daughters for a few more days to weeks. She allowed herself a few moments of grief.

In the time it took her to pull herself together she let her guard down. She heard the sound of a twig snapping behind her and turned to see a pair of young men standing there with their guns pointed at her chest. Slowly, she raised her arms chanting shit over and over again in her head.

Off in the distance she spotted a small tunnel, a failed mine the fishery had used for off season storage. She remembered the coffee shop owner chatting her ear off about all of the things he had found in there to sell, remembered watching him drop bag after bag as he realized he was completely overencumbered on their hike. She memorized the way it looked, then watched the two men as they approached her.

"Put your weapon down and kick it here," one of them was saying.

She nodded, glanced back at the mine, and was gone.

She pressed herself against the tunnel wall, venturing down, hoping that it was too narrow for any Grimm that were a real threat to fit. She found a door a few hundred feet down and slipped into it. She flicked the lights on and off to verify there weren't any windows, grateful that this little storage area was on the same power grid as everything else, before turning on the lights completely and glancing around.

She was in a room that seemed to double as office and storage, surrounded mostly by tools and dust. The dust would be useful, she knew, but she only had enough food packets to last another three days, five, if she was conservative. She had no water besides one canteen full, given that she wasn't in a desert and there were rivers near everywhere. There seemed to be an attached powder room, if the sign on the door was to be believed. She checked the door to find it locked. She didn't have a pick on her and so decided to take the risk of breaking the handle completely.

The water ran, if a bit oddly, but smelled stagnant. She left it running to see if it would clear and sat to assess her situation. She was surrounded, no one knew where she was, and if she decided to blast her way out of here she would need to use every ounce of preparation at her disposal, even with maiden powers, because the men she had run into shared a tattoo, just under their left ear, a small twist of red ivy.

They were part of a cult that worshipped Salem, and though she never really associated with them, they still devoted themselves to pleasing her through whatever means necessary.

She felt the rising bubble of nauseous panic in her chest and busied herself with blockading the door and laying out her bedroll. She found her scroll charger, checked for a signal, and saw that she had none. Setting a timer for 1900, giving herself 8 hours, she settled in for the most anxious rest of her adult life.

If I die here, my girls will never know what happens to me, she thought. So I will make it home. The water was clear. She turned it off and settled in to wait for what she assumed would be night fall.

* * *

It was odd for Qrow to receive a call from Ozpin instead of the other way around. He let it ring out the first time, figuring that Oz had to have the wrong number, but the second time he picked it up first ring.

The last words he expected to hear were "Summer is missing," followed by "I've already told Tai Yang. He suggested I send you, as he needs to remain at Signal for the girls."

Qrow nearly dropped the phone. He took an alarming number of deep breaths to calm himself. "Alright," he said. "Where was she last?"

He grabbed a pen and paper to jot down the coordinates as Ozpin read them off. "I will be sending a back up team ASAP," Ozpin told him, "but with it being Summer, you can understand the urgency. I would like it if you were able to travel as the crow flies."

"Yeah," Qrow told him. "I gotcha." He wondered a bit at Ozpin's use of the phrase, knowing what he meant but not understanding how Ozpin would think Qrow would travel any slower way.

"I expect you to do your best work," Ozpin told him. The click of the scroll followed. Qrow found himself nodding at thin air with a scroll held to his head. He called Tai just to be sure, panic surely evident in his voice. Tai was calm as he told him "She will do her best, she always does. She might have just gotten lost" _-doubtful,_ Qrow thought- "she may turn up before you get there,"- _miraculously-_ "or she might still be analyzing data, realize she needs back-up, and just be letting Glynda do her dirty work while she continues to work."

 _Hopefully_ , Qrow thought. _For fuck's sake, please let it be that._

 _"_ Is Ruby ok?" he found himself asking. Tai sighed. 

"Yes," Tai told him. "Go get her mom."

He barely remembered to close his scroll as he took off through the window, starting his flight south. A moment of realization struck him. He landed and adjusted his course, flying instead toward the last place he had heard his sister's raiding party had attacked, grateful that she had come back to Vale from Vacuo recently.

The faster he could find Raven, he figured, the faster he would be able to find Summer.


End file.
